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Tours in Hong Kong |
Statue Square
Previously not a feature of traditional Hong Kong tourist itineraries, Statue Square is now a must-see, on account of its dazzling ensemble of modernist architecture. The headquarters building of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) forms the south side of the square and just to the east of it is I M Pei's Bank of China Tower. Less distinguished but equally prominent buildings jostle around them, towering over the colonial remnant of St John's Cathedral. In more antiquated contrast, the Legislative Council Building, formerly the Supreme Court, on the east side of the square, houses Hong Kong's partly elected assembly.
The bizarre profile of Norman Foster's masterpiece may not look monumental on paper (it is on most Hong Kong dollar banknotes) but in the flesh (or steel) it is tremendous. Opened in 1986, the HSBC building exemplified the fashion for atriums in world architecture and an escalator ride up into the belly of the building. The building has no central core (bridge engineering techniques secure the walls and its infrastructure is on the outside) so all 11 storeys of the central atrium are open and unobstructed.
Deliberately planned to dwarf the neighbouring Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building, the Bank of China Tower is now Hong Kong's ‘national' monument. The Chinese-American architect, I M Pei, developed Beijing's triumphalist intentions into a soaring, gracefully irregular pinnacle, the design characteristics of which inspire lively debate among connoisseurs of feng shui. The triangular and hexagonal structural logic requires some minutes of puzzled scrutiny. Visitors can ascend to the 43rd of the building's 74 floors for a particularly stunning view of Central.
Standing beside the Star Ferry terminal is the soaring 88-storey International Finance Centre (known as ‘Two IFC' - One IFC building is older and much smaller). The building is for now Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper at 420m (1,378ft) and the sixth tallest in the world - the Union Square Phase 7 will be taller once completed in 2010. Topped by a sculptural ‘crown' reaching inward and outward, the buildings tapered upward appearance is achieved by smaller floor areas towards the top. The building featured in the movie Tomb Raider II and is now home to a new Four Seasons hotel and the city's showpiece shopping mall, as well as a cinema and a fine portfolio of cafes, restaurants and bars.
Central
Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building
Des Voeux Road, Statue Square
Tel: 2822 1111.
Website: www.hsbc.com.hk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1630, Sat 0900-1230.
Free admission.
Bank of China Tower
2a Des Voeux Road, 1 Garden Road
Tel: 2826 6888.
Website: www.bochk.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-2130, Sat and Sun 0930-2330.
Admission charge.
International Finance Center
8 Finance Street
Website: www.ifc.com.hk
Victoria Peak (The Peak)
A miniature hill station in colonial times, Victoria Peak is stratospheric in its social exclusiveness and its rents. Groundlings can still visit, however, ascending by the vertiginous Peak Tram - a funicular in use since 1888, which feels more like a Victorian-era Space Shuttle. Atop the hill is the Peak Tower (a slightly bizarre viewing platform with displays and other facilities) as well as the recently revamped Peak Galleria shopping arcade and several new restaurants, ranging from Bubba Gump Shrimp company to exquisite Japanese fare at Kyo Hachi. Dinner at Café Deco, in the Peak Galleria, is a must-do Hong Kong experience - the view down into central Hong Kong and across the water to Kowloon defies description, day or night. Hikers can scale the real peak, some 140m (459ft) above the tram terminus, with vistas over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the outlying islands.
Garden Road (Lower Peak Tram Terminus)
Tel: 2849 7654.
Website: www.thepeak.com.hk
Opening hours: Daily 0700-2400 (Peak Tram).
Admission charge.
Star Ferry
The green and white tub-shaped ferries have been a familiar sight around Hong Kong since the 1920s and are a much-cherished symbol of the city. Far more important, however, is the fact that their decks give one of the best available views, day or night, of the waterfronts of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon - not to mention the plethora of ocean traffic surging through the shipping lanes. The boats themselves are cast-iron veterans to delight schoolboys of all ages.
Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Wan Chai and Hung Hom Star Ferry terminals
Tel: 2367 7065 or 2118 6203 (booking line).
Website: www.starferry.com.hk
Operating hours: Daily 0630-2330.
Admission charge.
Western Market
This former market (a four-storey red brick Edwardian building dating from 1906 and occupying an entire block at the western end of Central) was reopened in 1991, as a shopping centre featuring small shops, souvenir stands and curio sellers. Ground-floor shops sell unique merchandise rather than chain store goods, while the first floor recreates the old ‘Cloth Alley', selling silks and fabrics of all kinds. There is also a dim sum restaurant and a fine antique-shop café.
Connaught Road
Tel: 2543 6878.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1900.
Free admission.
Mid-Levels Escalator
Not just any escalator, the Mid-Levels Escalator is the world's longest at 800m (2,622ft) and was built as a commuter aid for this wealthy residential hillside. The city fathers reportedly balked at the cost of twin stairways, so there is only one escalator, running downhill in the morning and uphill thereafter, until midnight. It gives a fine (and free) view of (and access to) the streets of the fashionable SoHo district, which are packed with restaurants, bars and, around Hollywood Road, excellent art and antiques stores and galleries.
Central Market (corner of Queens Road and Jubilee Street) to Conduit Road
Operating hours: Daily 0700-1030 (downhill), 1030-2400 (uphill).
Free admission.
Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
Situated in the beautiful Hong Kong Park and overlooking the ultramodern mania of Central, Flagstaff House, dating from 1846, is the former residence of the colonial Commander-in-Chief and the oldest surviving colonial building in Hong Kong. It now houses a fine museum of tea ware, seals and other ceramics.
10 Cotton Tree Drive, Hong Kong Park, Central
Tel: 2869 0690.
Website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/english/tea/intro/eintro.html
Opening hours: 1000-1700 (closed Tuesday).
Free admission.
Hong Kong Museum of History
It is somehow fitting that this go-ahead territory has its history commemorated in a dazzling new building. Opened in late 2000, the new museum building, situated next to the Hong Kong Science Museum in Kowloon, houses exhibits covering the region's history from prehistoric times, including some spectacular period sets. There are traditional costumes, a huge collection of period photographs, replicas of old village houses and an entire street, circa 1881, with its own Chinese medicine store. There are also numerous temporary exhibitions.
100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: 2724 9042.
Website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/History/index.php
Opening hours: Mon and Weds-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge.
Wong Tai Sin Temple
An ornate traditional temple in the heart of Kowloon, Wong Tai Sin Temple combines Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist traditions. Wong Tai Sin himself was a Zhejiang shepherd/alchemist who supposedly concocted a marvellous cure-all. His statue in the main building was brought from the mainland in 1915. The building is spectacularly colourful with its red pillars, golden ceiling and decorated latticework, although not particularly distinguished. Far more fascinating are the fortune-tellers in their arcade of booths and the throngs of worshippers. This is also Hong Kong's number one temple for Chinese New Year celebrations.
Tai Sin Road, Kowloon
Tel: 2327 8141.
Opening hours: Daily 0700-1730.
Free admission.
Ngong Ping 360
Much-awaited, the 5.7km (3.5 miles) Ngong Ping 360 cable car finally opened in September 2006 after months of test runs. Travelling between Tung Chung Town Centre and Ngong Ping on Lantau Island, it offers stunning views across North Lantau Country Park, Tung Ching Bay and the giant Tian Tan Bhudda statue. Part of the development is Ngong Ping Village, a small theme park incorporating family-friendly attractions such as Walking with Buddha, the Monkey's Tale Theatre, the Ngong Ping Tea House and several dining, retail and entertainment outlets.
11 Tat Tung Road, Tung Chung, Lantau Island
Website: www.np360.com.hk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1800, Sat-Sun 1000-1830.
Admission charge.
Disneyland Hong Kong
Disney's latest theme park opened in the lush setting of Lantau Island in September 2005. The 310-acre park incorporates four lands (Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland) and two hotels. Visitors can meet characters old and new, from Mickey Mouse to Buzz Lightyear, and can tour the park aboard the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad. Attractions range from the adventurous Jungle River Cruise to the magical Sleeping Beauty Castle to the dizzying heights of Orbitron, where guests can pilot their own rocket. Live entertainment includes the Festival of the Lion King, inspired by the Disney film, while cuisine caters for both Western and Asian tastes.
Penny's Bay, Lantau Island
Tel: 183 0830.
Website: www.hongkongdisneyland.com
Opening hours: Daily 1000-2100 (summer); Mon-Fri 1000-1900, Sat-Sun 1000-1200 (winter).
Admission charge.
Previously not a feature of traditional Hong Kong tourist itineraries, Statue Square is now a must-see, on account of its dazzling ensemble of modernist architecture. The headquarters building of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) forms the south side of the square and just to the east of it is I M Pei's Bank of China Tower. Less distinguished but equally prominent buildings jostle around them, towering over the colonial remnant of St John's Cathedral. In more antiquated contrast, the Legislative Council Building, formerly the Supreme Court, on the east side of the square, houses Hong Kong's partly elected assembly.
The bizarre profile of Norman Foster's masterpiece may not look monumental on paper (it is on most Hong Kong dollar banknotes) but in the flesh (or steel) it is tremendous. Opened in 1986, the HSBC building exemplified the fashion for atriums in world architecture and an escalator ride up into the belly of the building. The building has no central core (bridge engineering techniques secure the walls and its infrastructure is on the outside) so all 11 storeys of the central atrium are open and unobstructed.
Deliberately planned to dwarf the neighbouring Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building, the Bank of China Tower is now Hong Kong's ‘national' monument. The Chinese-American architect, I M Pei, developed Beijing's triumphalist intentions into a soaring, gracefully irregular pinnacle, the design characteristics of which inspire lively debate among connoisseurs of feng shui. The triangular and hexagonal structural logic requires some minutes of puzzled scrutiny. Visitors can ascend to the 43rd of the building's 74 floors for a particularly stunning view of Central.
Standing beside the Star Ferry terminal is the soaring 88-storey International Finance Centre (known as ‘Two IFC' - One IFC building is older and much smaller). The building is for now Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper at 420m (1,378ft) and the sixth tallest in the world - the Union Square Phase 7 will be taller once completed in 2010. Topped by a sculptural ‘crown' reaching inward and outward, the buildings tapered upward appearance is achieved by smaller floor areas towards the top. The building featured in the movie Tomb Raider II and is now home to a new Four Seasons hotel and the city's showpiece shopping mall, as well as a cinema and a fine portfolio of cafes, restaurants and bars.
Central
Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building
Des Voeux Road, Statue Square
Tel: 2822 1111.
Website: www.hsbc.com.hk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1630, Sat 0900-1230.
Free admission.
Bank of China Tower
2a Des Voeux Road, 1 Garden Road
Tel: 2826 6888.
Website: www.bochk.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0930-2130, Sat and Sun 0930-2330.
Admission charge.
International Finance Center
8 Finance Street
Website: www.ifc.com.hk
Victoria Peak (The Peak)
A miniature hill station in colonial times, Victoria Peak is stratospheric in its social exclusiveness and its rents. Groundlings can still visit, however, ascending by the vertiginous Peak Tram - a funicular in use since 1888, which feels more like a Victorian-era Space Shuttle. Atop the hill is the Peak Tower (a slightly bizarre viewing platform with displays and other facilities) as well as the recently revamped Peak Galleria shopping arcade and several new restaurants, ranging from Bubba Gump Shrimp company to exquisite Japanese fare at Kyo Hachi. Dinner at Café Deco, in the Peak Galleria, is a must-do Hong Kong experience - the view down into central Hong Kong and across the water to Kowloon defies description, day or night. Hikers can scale the real peak, some 140m (459ft) above the tram terminus, with vistas over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the outlying islands.
Garden Road (Lower Peak Tram Terminus)
Tel: 2849 7654.
Website: www.thepeak.com.hk
Opening hours: Daily 0700-2400 (Peak Tram).
Admission charge.
Star Ferry
The green and white tub-shaped ferries have been a familiar sight around Hong Kong since the 1920s and are a much-cherished symbol of the city. Far more important, however, is the fact that their decks give one of the best available views, day or night, of the waterfronts of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon - not to mention the plethora of ocean traffic surging through the shipping lanes. The boats themselves are cast-iron veterans to delight schoolboys of all ages.
Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Wan Chai and Hung Hom Star Ferry terminals
Tel: 2367 7065 or 2118 6203 (booking line).
Website: www.starferry.com.hk
Operating hours: Daily 0630-2330.
Admission charge.
Western Market
This former market (a four-storey red brick Edwardian building dating from 1906 and occupying an entire block at the western end of Central) was reopened in 1991, as a shopping centre featuring small shops, souvenir stands and curio sellers. Ground-floor shops sell unique merchandise rather than chain store goods, while the first floor recreates the old ‘Cloth Alley', selling silks and fabrics of all kinds. There is also a dim sum restaurant and a fine antique-shop café.
Connaught Road
Tel: 2543 6878.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1900.
Free admission.
Mid-Levels Escalator
Not just any escalator, the Mid-Levels Escalator is the world's longest at 800m (2,622ft) and was built as a commuter aid for this wealthy residential hillside. The city fathers reportedly balked at the cost of twin stairways, so there is only one escalator, running downhill in the morning and uphill thereafter, until midnight. It gives a fine (and free) view of (and access to) the streets of the fashionable SoHo district, which are packed with restaurants, bars and, around Hollywood Road, excellent art and antiques stores and galleries.
Central Market (corner of Queens Road and Jubilee Street) to Conduit Road
Operating hours: Daily 0700-1030 (downhill), 1030-2400 (uphill).
Free admission.
Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware
Situated in the beautiful Hong Kong Park and overlooking the ultramodern mania of Central, Flagstaff House, dating from 1846, is the former residence of the colonial Commander-in-Chief and the oldest surviving colonial building in Hong Kong. It now houses a fine museum of tea ware, seals and other ceramics.
10 Cotton Tree Drive, Hong Kong Park, Central
Tel: 2869 0690.
Website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/english/tea/intro/eintro.html
Opening hours: 1000-1700 (closed Tuesday).
Free admission.
Hong Kong Museum of History
It is somehow fitting that this go-ahead territory has its history commemorated in a dazzling new building. Opened in late 2000, the new museum building, situated next to the Hong Kong Science Museum in Kowloon, houses exhibits covering the region's history from prehistoric times, including some spectacular period sets. There are traditional costumes, a huge collection of period photographs, replicas of old village houses and an entire street, circa 1881, with its own Chinese medicine store. There are also numerous temporary exhibitions.
100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: 2724 9042.
Website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/History/index.php
Opening hours: Mon and Weds-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge.
Wong Tai Sin Temple
An ornate traditional temple in the heart of Kowloon, Wong Tai Sin Temple combines Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist traditions. Wong Tai Sin himself was a Zhejiang shepherd/alchemist who supposedly concocted a marvellous cure-all. His statue in the main building was brought from the mainland in 1915. The building is spectacularly colourful with its red pillars, golden ceiling and decorated latticework, although not particularly distinguished. Far more fascinating are the fortune-tellers in their arcade of booths and the throngs of worshippers. This is also Hong Kong's number one temple for Chinese New Year celebrations.
Tai Sin Road, Kowloon
Tel: 2327 8141.
Opening hours: Daily 0700-1730.
Free admission.
Ngong Ping 360
Much-awaited, the 5.7km (3.5 miles) Ngong Ping 360 cable car finally opened in September 2006 after months of test runs. Travelling between Tung Chung Town Centre and Ngong Ping on Lantau Island, it offers stunning views across North Lantau Country Park, Tung Ching Bay and the giant Tian Tan Bhudda statue. Part of the development is Ngong Ping Village, a small theme park incorporating family-friendly attractions such as Walking with Buddha, the Monkey's Tale Theatre, the Ngong Ping Tea House and several dining, retail and entertainment outlets.
11 Tat Tung Road, Tung Chung, Lantau Island
Website: www.np360.com.hk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1800, Sat-Sun 1000-1830.
Admission charge.
Disneyland Hong Kong
Disney's latest theme park opened in the lush setting of Lantau Island in September 2005. The 310-acre park incorporates four lands (Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland) and two hotels. Visitors can meet characters old and new, from Mickey Mouse to Buzz Lightyear, and can tour the park aboard the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad. Attractions range from the adventurous Jungle River Cruise to the magical Sleeping Beauty Castle to the dizzying heights of Orbitron, where guests can pilot their own rocket. Live entertainment includes the Festival of the Lion King, inspired by the Disney film, while cuisine caters for both Western and Asian tastes.
Penny's Bay, Lantau Island
Tel: 183 0830.
Website: www.hongkongdisneyland.com
Opening hours: Daily 1000-2100 (summer); Mon-Fri 1000-1900, Sat-Sun 1000-1200 (winter).
Admission charge.
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